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Select

The select field creates a simple select dropdown. You can select one or multiple values from the predefined list.

Screenshots

Settings

Besides the common settings, this field has the following specific settings, the keys are for use with code:

NameKeyDescription
ChoicesoptionsList of choices, each per line. If you need to set values and labels, use the format "value: Label" for each choice.
When using with code, this setting is an array of 'value' => 'Label'.
MultiplemultipleWhether to allow select multiple values? true or false (default).
PlaceholderplaceholderThe placeholder text.
Display "Toggle All" buttonselect_all_noneDisplay "Toggle All" button to quickly toggle choices. Applied only when "Multiple" is set.
FlattenflattenDisplay sub items without indentation. true or false (default). See below to know how to define sub items.

This is a sample field settings array when creating this field with code:

[
'name' => 'Select',
'id' => 'select',
'type' => 'select',
'multiple' => true,
'placeholder' => 'Select an item',
'select_all_none' => true,
'options' => [
'java' => 'Java',
'javascript' => 'JavaScript',
'php' => 'PHP',
'kotlin' => 'Kotlin',
'swift' => 'Swift',
],
],

Besides the normal list of choices, you can define sub choices as follows:

[
'name' => 'Select',
'id' => 'select',
'type' => 'select',
'placeholder' => 'Select an Item',
'flatten' => false,
'options' => [
[
'value' => 'monkeys',
'label' => 'Monkeys',
],
[
'value' => 'king_kong',
'label' => 'King Kong',
'parent' => 'monkeys',
],
[
'value' => 'curious_george',
'label' => 'Curious George',
'parent' => 'monkeys',
],
[
'value' => 'donkeys',
'label' => 'Donkeys',
],
[
'value' => 'eeyore',
'label' => 'Eeyore',
'parent' => 'donkeys',
],
[
'value' => 'guss',
'label' => 'Gus',
'parent' => 'donkeys',
],
],
],

Here is how it looks:

select with sub choices

Data

If "Multiple" is not set, this field saves the selected value in the database.

If "Multiple" is set, this field saves multiple values in the database. Each value is stored in a single row in the database with the same key (similar to what add_post_meta does with the last parameter false).

If the field is cloneable, the value is stored as a serialized array in a single row in the database.

caution

Note that this field stores the values, not labels.

Template usage

Displaying the selected value:

<?php $value = rwmb_meta( 'my_field_id' ); ?>
<p>Selected: <?= $value ?></p>

Displaying the selected label:

<p>My choice: <?php rwmb_the_value( 'my_field_id' ) ?></p>

Displaying both value and label:

<?php
$field = rwmb_get_field_settings( 'my_field_id' );
$options = $field['options'];
$value = rwmb_meta( 'my_field_id' );
?>

Value: <?= $value ?><br>
Label: <?= $options[ $value ] ?>

Displaying the list of multiple choices (values):

<?php $values = rwmb_meta( 'my_field_id' ); ?>
<ul>
<?php foreach ( $values as $value ) : ?>
<li><?= $value ?></li>
<?php endforeach ?>
</ul>

Displaying the list of multiple choices (values and labels):

<?php
$field = rwmb_get_field_settings( 'my_field_id' );
$options = $field['options'];
$values = rwmb_meta( 'my_field_id' );
?>
<ul>
<?php foreach ( $values as $value ) : ?>
<li>
Value: <?= $value ?><br>
Label: <?= $options[ $value ] ?>
</li>
<?php endforeach ?>
</ul>

Displaying cloneable values:

<?php $values = rwmb_meta( 'my_field_id' ); ?>
<ul>
<?php foreach ( $values as $value ) : ?>
<li><?= $value ?></li>
<?php endforeach ?>
</ul>